German household bills rose to a record high for gas and electricity, nearly tripling in early August compared to a year earlier, Reuters reported, citing Verivox.

More challenges lie ahead in the fall, as many regional suppliers have already announced price hikes, while the state plans to cut costs to support financially strapped importers and increase gas storage because of fears of winter shortages.

"There is no end in sight to the explosive price increases," said the company, which analyzed the publicly available rates of about 700 local utilities.

A household using 20,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year paid an average of 3,568 euros in August, equivalent to an unprecedented 18 cents/kWh and 184 percent more than 1,258 euros in August 2021.

"Wholesale gas prices are currently well above even that level, which means the (consumer) price will rise sharply even higher," said Verivox energy expert Thorsten Stork.

Half of Germany's 41.5 million households use gas for heating.

The government plans to amend the Energy Security Act to pass the rising costs on to all consumers, including those with fixed-price contracts, citing the actual gas shortage situation.

Verivox estimates that the fees planned from October could lead to an increase in costs of between 357 and 1,190 euros per household, resulting in annual prices four times the level of last August.